A Wand Without Magic
by A-Day-Without-Sun
Summary: They all were most surely wondering how Harry could be smiling with such genuine happiness after being delivered such seemingly devastating news. And the answer in itself was simple: His sister was on her way. Charlie Weasley/OC
1. The Prologue

I ran. By _merlin_ how I ran.

My feet were most surely a blur as I sprinted through the forest, desperately trying to escape the deadly lights that fired all around me. Trying to outrun those feral snarls that emitted from my lethal pursuers. I couldn't look back, and yet I could barely look forward as my vision blackened and blurred as a result of my ever increasing blood loss.

I had tried - and failed- to scour my beloved wand from the holder at my waist as I realised that to slow for even a second would surely cause me to meet my torturous end. I was running out of stamina, running out of the adrenaline that currently fuelled my entire body. Pain coursed through my veins like burning fire as I finally acknowledged the pulsing ache of my everything.

For some reason my magic was deadened, not responding as it so usually would in its wandless form and worse yet I could not turn. However hard I tried, my brain refused to morph from this weakened state into one of a much stronger body.

"Please" I screamed to the unconscious spirit within me "please…"

But no reply came as I continued to push my rapidly deteriorating self forward. I knew I could not continue this for long, knew that sooner rather than later my body would inevitably give up and yet I could not stop running. Could not stop yearning for my beloved, for my friends, for my _family_. It would be selfish of me to stop, of that much I knew, but that did not stop the pain of my injuries ripping into my very core as my body finally gave up.

My muscles seizing, shaking as I dropped to the ground in a pitiful heap. I did not look up, for I daren't to acknowledge the man who would end my life. The man who so effortlessly caught me after years of running. At first he ran simply to catch up with me, to enlist me within his loyal followers. But after finally discovering my true abilities alongside my choice of allies, he saw me as a threat. Obsessed with defeating me, he placed me just slightly under his number one enemy as he now ran to kill.

Ran to murder.

I should've known my luck would soon run out and yet I didn't want to acknowledge anything that could harm my seemingly perfect current life.

I had been awoken deep in the night by shouts from outside, forced to climb out my fiancée's possessive embrace as I stumbled out of bed. I finally understood as I gazed upon the multiple trails of black smoke erupting from the sky. Acknowledged the misty skull set way above my home as I realised just what was happening.

I knew that the sleeping figure lying peacefully beside me would be safe in our home if I gave chase, if I finally provided my pursuer with what he so wanted. If I ran now, they would surely follow, he would not defeat me without knowing that I went down as a result of his 'superior' power and not just as a result of underhanded tactics. I gave one last teary eyed glance to my beloved, pressing a tight kiss to his forehead so as not to awaken him before I was hurriedly reminded of the situation as another taunting jeer rang loud from down below.

And so I ran. By _merlin _how I ran.

Until I eventually ended up here. A whimpering pathetic mess shivering on the cold forest floor as I forced myself to stare upon the deadened eyes of my soon to be murderer. The smug satisfaction so clearly shown in his warped smirk made me want to gag as he indicated for me to rise with his wand. His smirk only widened at seeing my need to grab a hold of the tree next to me as a way of supporting my broken and battered body.

He said nothing, simply staring alongside his followers as I shakily reached for my wand. Just about to curl my fingers around it as impulsive hope rose up within me.

Perhaps he would let me defend myself, allow me one last final battle to state my power. For that's what he craves isn't it? A chance to dutifully defeat me once and for all. It didn't seem to dawn on me in that moment that this man wasn't a man. He was a cold blooded monster, one who gained joy from seeing their victim's hope seconds before he struck them down.

I did not realise this until my own last few seconds. Until my fingers grazed the cool wood of my faithful weapon. Until his own weapon shot out at unimaginable speeds, a lethal yet eerily recognisable green light shooting out of it, hitting me square in the chest as a strangled scream tore through my throat.

I was falling, falling endlessly, never seeming to land no matter how desperately I sought for a foothold. I ignored the high pitched laugh echoing throughout my surroundings as instead I focused solely on the burning of my neck. Focused on the painful heat erupting from my chest. I imagined the necklace to be emblazed with light so strong it lightened the area, blinding my pursuers – no my murderers – causing them pain so miniscule in comparison to that of which they forced upon me.

The heat never stopped, of that I knew. It never withered nor faltered but my body however did.

The burning never ceased to be, unlike the beats of my own heart, and yet the light it emitted most surely did as my last breath rose from my frozen lips. Letting me know that wherever he was, my beloved must know of my forthcoming demise, must know of my impulsive actions that would leave him devastated and alone.

I could barely reach him, could barely penetrate the now crumbling wintry walls of his mentality. But I did, for within those last few seconds of my life as I lay there motionless, breathless and without a heartbeat, I managed to utter my final words to the man I held so dear.

"I'm sorry Charlie…"


	2. Chapter 1

Harry was happy. Of course he was. He should be chuffed that he finally found a legible guardian and _friend_ in Sirius Black. He should appreciate the fact that he was miles away from his unfortunately blood family. He should be overjoyed with the fact that Voldemort made no appearance last year and most importantly he should feel happy that he was now able to spend 4 more weeks with the people he called his family … and Snape.

But he wasn't, he couldn't keep his mind on the positives when all he could think about was **_her._** She knew he was here, of course she knew, she knew everything- something that never ceased to both terrify and astound him. But she had promised to always protect him, and he just assumed that meant talking face to face with her.

Sure, her letters were unstoppable and never failed to come in their hundreds, something that always stumped his fellow students who just assumed the boy who lived was simply getting mounds of fan mail. But it wasn't the same. He wanted to be able to hear her laugh, to have her ruffle his already uncontrollably messy hair. He wanted to be able to openly seek comfort and not have to be afraid to uphold this strong 'chosen one' persona that no-one was able to see past, not even his own best friends were able to see past the cracks and view Harry for what he really was – a near 14 year old orphan who had the weight of the world pushing down on his shoulders. But he never felt this way when he was around her- never felt alone- for she was his family, something that forever confused him when he was younger.

Family was an abstract concept to the young 6 year old Harry. He had no friends, no parents and no love in his life, well that was before a 10 year old spitfire literally crashed into him one day. She took him under her wing, talked to him every day, played games with him, helped him with his lessons whenever he got stuck, protected him from the bullies – including that of his own aunt and uncle. The number of times she stood up to the two adults was countless.

And yet every time he thanked her she simply brushed him off, saying that what happened to him was beyond unfair (something that confused him until Hagrid shared his true past with him) and she was simply giving him what she could to try and make up for fate's cruel ways. She stood by him every day, made his life that much lighter, took some of the weight off of his shoulders and burdened herself with every one of his problems – however small.

He wasn't ashamed to admit that after visiting Diagon Alley the first thing the 11 year old did was not pack all his things away, nor was it to have a mini celebration at the chance to leave this dreaded house. But he ran to her with tears in his eyes as he explained to the 15 year old with mumbled words and teary sniffs in between. He was a mess: a confused and frazzled mess. He knew that in reality to tell a supposed muggle (according to the ministry) of his wizardry was a punishable offense. Even more so considering who he was.

But he didn't even hesitate in blurting out everything to her, from his parents sacrifice to the "big nice man" named Hagrid. And she said nothing just sat there, listening, never interrupting; just holding his hand to offer him her silent support.

And that was exactly what he needed in that moment, he needed to calm down, to soothe his nerves of leaving her. When he voiced these worries however she just smiled, and told him not to feel guilty about leaving, but to be happy; to be proud of who he was. She assured him that if he even thought of rejecting the position she would no doubt forcibly drag him to the school and make sure he got through the full 7 years of schooling. That made him laugh, something he thought impossible in that moment.

But that was her all over, she never failed to lighten a situation heck any room she walked into lightened considerably due to her ever present smile. She radiated kindness, comfort, humour. She was the epitome of light. And so for him to leave her was disastrous in the least, but she managed to persuade him. She pushed him to go for it, promising him that she would always protect him, just like she had done when he was 6, and 7 and 8 and so on. And so he believed her for she would never lie- not to him-and packed his bags saying one final goodbye just before he left privet drive which ended in a huge hug, lots of tears and a final kiss on the forehead before she ruffled his hair and waved goodbye.

He never stopped thinking about her of course, but he was forever grateful for that push that he so desperately needed, that one nudge that ended up in him finally discovering a home in Hogwarts.

For the past two summers he had arrived back at Privet Drive and remained there for the most part – excluding the summer after first year which involved a rather darish escape from his uncle's meaty hands in a flying car. But she had been there every summer, welcoming him back with open arms as she asked question after question about his new life, something that he happily obliged to answer despite the fact that he somehow knew that she was already aware of the happenings of his three years at Hogwarts.

She did tell him off for getting into danger – multiple times in fact- but these were all in the letters, and so in person she only ever offered him the comfort that he had been so fondly associating with her for the past 8 years or so. And now here he was, in Grimmauld Place, surrounded by his friends, his family, with laughter ringing in his ears and the constant screaming of Mrs Black providing him with never ending headaches.

And yet all he could think about was her: his older sister.

A few days had passed, all of which were filled with uncharacteristic moping from Harry and worried stares from all the residents of Grimmauld Place. Ron and Hermione of course tried to pry the truth from him, fearing that it had something to do with Voldemort despite Harry's avid denials, but they always failed.

For some reason, Harry had never shared the truth of his older sister with anyone. He felt like if he did speak her name, inform someone of her, then he would wake up and she would be gone, revealing herself to be a simple figment of his imagination and he would return to his lonely life in the cupboard under the stairs. Everyone of course knew of his cruel family and his sadly unconventional upbringing – if it could even be labelled as such- but they never knew of his older sister, never knew that the reason he was so 'strong' was not because of his Gryffindor bravery as so many believed but because of her.

It was all thanks to her and her eternal love that he wasn't some hermit who winced at every touch and perhaps it was thanks to her that he managed to avoid being placed into the Slytherin house and was deemed worthy enough to become a lion instead.

This ignorance led to the many questionings of Harry and finally resulted in Mrs Weasley informing the Order of his strange behaviour. Something that he was able to discover all thanks to the Weasley twin's ingenious invention of the Extendable Ears, which would prove to be invaluable in the coming weeks. This order meeting was the first full one he had witnessed, with even Professor Dumbledore being present, and so the mentioning of Harry's strange behaviour inevitably resulted in a storm of worry and fear arising.

Even Sirius chimed in, claiming his godson not to be insane but did have to admit to his slightly distant demeanour. Remus, Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley, Tonks (someone he had met not days ago but was already quite fond of), Kingsley (a rather scary looking auror who Harry knew would be described as "a ball of unadulterated sass" by her), Bill Weasley, and many other members all agreed on this new change which annoyed him to no end. However, just as he was about to storm into the meeting, revealing himself to be an eavesdropper and an offended one at that, Dumbledore ordered silence in that intimidating headmaster's voice of his that practically radiated power and authority.

"I can assure you all now that Harry is not currently in any immediate danger in terms of Voldemort. In fact the reasoning behind his troubles is much more simplistic and ever the easier to remedy."

The room was quiet as the fretting of the members came to a standstill, all shocked to hear that Harry was not being possessed by the dark lord himself, or whatever other crazy conspiracy theory they had thought up. Even Harry was stumped at the tone of knowing in Dumbledore's voice, he shook his head though as he should've known that Professor Dumbledore would've been aware of the existence of his older sister, of course he was, he's nearly as omniscient as she is.

"I can assure you now that all will be revealed soon, in fact maybe even in a matter of days, but for now I must leave you and so I call this meeting to a close. Once again thank you Sirius for welcoming us into your home and Molly ,I must say, the food tonight was simply scrumptious, you must owl me with the recipe soon. Goodnight everyone."

And in pure Dumbledore fashion, he left, leaving Mrs Weasley elated with the compliments, the majority comforted by his assurances and everyone all together confused by his otherwise crazy attitude.

Yep, that was classic Albus Dumbledore. Harry shook himself out of these thoughts however as Dumbledore's words finally dawned on him. Feeling like he had just been struck directly by Aguamenti Harry thought back over to his exact wording. He had assured the order that the matter behind his troubles aka, his sister, 'will be revealed soon'. He even said 'maybe even in a matter of days'. But that wouldn't happen would it? Surely Dumbledore was aware of Harry's pure need to keep her under wraps, to protect her in a way that was miniscule in comparison to all she had done for him.

He knew more than most that she was far beyond capable of protecting herself. Hell, if he was looking at this from a purely tactical approach he would even be rejoicing at the idea of such a powerful ally but it wasn't tactical for him, it was personal. Dumbledore couldn't reveal her, not if he had anything to do with it. But was it too late? Merlin he hoped not…

After much consideration, Harry finally settled on a plan that was flimsy at best. He would simply message her and try to subtlety find out what she knew. It was pathetic, that much he knew, but it was all he had and he'd be damned if he didn't at least try to further hide her existence. Sure he was estactic at the mere thought of seeing her again, after all it had been a year without being able to hug her and it was torture, but if the price of their reunion was announcing her presence to the wizarding community than perhaps it would be better to go without.

_'__No'_ he reminded himself _'there is no perhaps about it, you know it will be better, you're already endangering too many of your friends, remember what happened to Ron in first year, he got knocked out because of you, and Hermione? She got petrified trying to find information to help your 'quest', not to mention Ginny she nearly died just because she was associated with you.'_

No. Enough was enough.

He might not be able to do anything about Ron and Hermione and everyone else for they were too far in but he'd be damned if he let her come into the mix. A voice in the back of his head did try to tell him that it would be better, imagine how much help she would be if she was actually there by his side, how much of a difference she would make. But he quieted that voice almost immediately as he finally stirred himself from his stupor realising that Mrs Weasley was calling them all for dinner, indicating the end of the meeting and the imminent arrival of the Weasleys as Ron and the twins stormed past him on the stairs. Only stopping to give him a questioning glance before they resumed their sprint to the dining room. He couldn't help but smile at their eagerness to taste Mrs Weasleys food, something that he himself was not immune to.

His smile only grew further at the sounds of Hermione's and Ginny's grumbling as they both complained about boys in general. It wasn't surprising how quickly the two took to each other considering how much Ginny had matured after the Chamber incident, it also helped that as the only two young girls in the house –par Tonks- they were forced to share a room which only helped to solidify their friendship further. He shook himself from his moping thoughts, and for the first time in the entirety of the holidays he had managed to obtain a somewhat clear mind. And so with that in mind he too galloped of to join his family in their supper.

He entered the dining room to find everyone already seated and was pleased to find that Bill, Tonks and Remus had decided to stay for dinner. Tonks had already launched into a full comedic routine, permanently entertaining Ginny and Hermione with her metamorphic abilities. Bill was in deep conversation with the twins, Ron and Mr Weasley as they discussed quidditch in great detail.

Harry had almost forgotten the invitation to the World Cup that they had extended to him and was once again filled with excitement at the aspect of going to such a holy – in his mind- event in just a matter of weeks. Mrs Weasley –as always- was bustling about, making sure everyone was comfortable and that everyone's plates were full at all times, something that endlessly amused him.

Sirius and Lupin, however, seemed to be in deep conversation at the head of the table, only pausing in their whispering when he entered the room. Sirius motioned for Harry to come sit beside him in the empty seat next to Tonks, who smiled at him with a large humorous duck beak on her face. He just shook his head with a grin at her as he hesitantly sat down, still adjusting to the fact that he – Harry Potter- had a_ godfather_.

"Harry, we were wondering where you had gotten to. Gotta be careful in this house, never know what's lurking in those godforsaken cupboards" Sirius winked at him, letting him know that Sirius was more than comfortable for him to explore, after all he was the son of a marauder and so his insatiable curiosity was something even Remus shared.

"But you are looking better today, in fact this may be the first time I've seen you smiling for the whole holiday. Now Remus and I are not trying to pry, so we just want to ask you this and then we'll back off: are you okay Harry, I mean are you safe?"

Harry's entire being warmed at the obvious tone of concern within Sirius's words and the worry shining through Remus' comforting brown eyes. He was thankful that they weren't trying to forcibly delve deeper into the issue and told them so as he assured them that he was okay, in fact he was beyond okay: he was happy. That may be the only good thing that came about as a result of his 'unconventional upbringing', not only had he been able to excel in the art of lying when his teaches inquired after his home life with obviously faked concern, but he was also able to see the good things in his life, the things that most would simply dismiss and leave ungratified.

But not Harry.

He knew how lucky he was to be sitting in this chair right now, surrounded by the love of his family and yes he may be in constant danger from a basically demonic dark lord and yes he may be an orphan but that didn't necessarily mean that he couldn't – that he shouldn't- be happy, because despite all of this, Harry knew he was where he belonged and that suited him just fine.

Unbeknownst to his inner thoughts, Sirius simply gave him a smile and a nod and changed the subject as he and Remus joined into the conversation with the Weasleys, alongside Harry as they all continued to eat and debate and shout and laugh for the rest of the evening.

That night Harry did dwell on the new dilemma in his life, and he did allow himself to mope for a restricted amount of time about how much he missed his sister, for that was the normalcy in his life and had been since his very first night in Hogwarts. But for the first night in a while, Harry had managed to fall peacefully asleep with a smile upon his face: despite Ron's monstrous snores in the bed next to his.


	3. Chapter 2

Harry awoke with a start as an inexplicably cold liquid seeped into his bed sheets early in the morning – far too early in the morning according to Ron's multiple grumbles after his initial girly scream. Although this sounds like a strange way to wake up, for the residents of Grimmauld Place it was an ever increasing normalcy that most simply accepted by now. Just because they accepted it, does not however, mean that they did not become angered by it when victimised.

The only residents to ever come away content from such an occurrence were: Mrs Weasley- as no pranks were ever pulled on her out of fear of her finding out about George and Fred's plans of starting a business-, Sirius simply because it reminded him of "the old days", and Harry just because he was happy to see the twins' genius finally be put into a logical aspiration.

The others were a completely different matter altogether.

Ron tended to have the best reaction, screaming girlishly every time, but never really reacting until midday when he was finally awake enough to acknowledge the wrongdoings. He would then randomly sit up straight with red ears and storm off in search of the twins. This usually resulted in him coming back to his original spot a few minutes later with a decidedly larger nose, a green colouring to his cheeks and in one instance a very long beard that could rival even the likes of Dumbledore's. This method of the twin's 'torture' as it was so aptly named was particularly humorous as Ron had to spend the day running from his mother to avoid her seeing his bright ginger mane of a beard.

The twins soon learnt, however, to avoid pranking the girls as they later found out just how mischievous Hermione and Ginny could be when combined, as they were flown off their feet from a strange – but effective- mix of Ginny's renowned bat bogey hex and Hermione's expert jelly-legs jinx. In fact, such a punishment was this that the twins even resorted to apologising, in their own special kind of way. Harry vividly recalled the twins failed puppy dog looks as they attempted to "out-cute the girl's anger".

This resulted in a large amount of laughter at their pathetic attempts and a playful argument erupting between the twins as to who in fact was the cutest. It ended up in both Fred and George running over to their mother like infants as they demanded to know who she found to be the cutest to which she responded with a soft pat on their heads as she assured them that they were both "just as cute as the other". They didn't like this answer and attempted to refute it before being thrown off by Mrs Weasleys infamous look as she ordered them out of the kitchen.

It was not until after they had turned their backs did Mrs Weasley drop her strict look as she simply shook her head with a chuckle as she headed back to her cooking.

Yes, Harry was not angered by such an awakening. Shocked, indeed and most certainly puzzled as to the source of the freezing liquid: but definitely not angry. In fact he was rather grateful to the twins for waking him up so early, as it gave him more time to send the letter off to his sister without meeting many disturbances due to the still sleeping residents of the house.

With that thought in mind, Harry leapt out of bed eager to get ready in order to hurry the day along. At seeing his keenness to be awake at such an unacceptable hour, Ron shot Harry a withering glare before turning over with a humph seeming not to care for his soaking state as he continued to grumble about how he could be friends with such an " eager beaver". It seemed that Ron spouted very odd phrases when he was on the brink of sleep, something Harry had become very accustomed to due to their sharing of a room at Hogwarts.

After washing and getting changed, Harry left the room, not having to fret about being quiet when closing the door due to Ron's almost worryingly heavy sleeping. He continued in a fruitless attempt to search for Hedwig for about an hour, before grumpily giving up and instead searching for Pig.

When he couldn't find even the energetic little thing, Harry tried desperately to find another owl, any owl at all and yet for some reason he could not find one. Harry couldn't deny the strangeness and even the suspicious nature of such a situation but quickly brushed the thoughts aside as Mrs Weasley call for breakfast boomed through the house.

Much unlike dinner the previous night, the Weasleys - although still fast approaching – were noticeably more sluggish in their movements and much more dishevelled looking. Ron seemed to be stuck in an endless yawn, George had resorted to leaning completely on Fred as he still looked fast asleep, resulting in a very comical looking descent from the two and even Ginny herself looked defiantly tired with mussed up hair, bleary eyes and ruffled pyjamas.

After their descent past him, Hermione came down the stairs and, much like Harry, was ready for the day, even walking with a spring in her step that he just knew Ron would glare at.

"You okay Harry?" She concernedly asked after noticing his lack of movement.

"Yeah, course. Sorry Hermione just spaced out for a second."

Although she didn't look completely convinced, Hermione seemed slightly mollified by his answer and so proceeded to dragging him by his arm down the stairs as she continued to talk his ear off at the breakfast table about the "disgusting mistreatment" of house elves. Occasionally shooting him concerned glances when she thought he wasn't looking. This only unnerved Harry further as he knew of Hermione's sometimes annoyingly high level of intelligence and her tendency to delve deep within an issue until she had every single component of the problem fully understood before she took control of the situation whether the person with the actual problem liked it or not.

Most of the time he found this characteristic endearing ,making him realise often just how lucky he was to have such a best friend, but at this particular time it was most unwelcome. Just as he was about to stand up and leave of his own accord he felt a heavy yet warm hand upon his shoulder, encouraging him to remain sitting. As he looked up his own bright green eyes met the easily identifiable twinkling blue of one Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore smiled slightly down at Harry as he looked up at the now quite dinner table.

" It seems matters have progressed much faster than first anticipated," He said this with a suspicious chuckle as his eyes momentarily brightened further with apparent humour as he looked back down to Harry before continuing on, " And so I must unfortunately prove to be a bother as I require a rather impromptu meeting of the order. The others shall arrive soon but for now I must ask that all non-members, excluding Harry, leave the room. However, I'm sure that we can lend you an ear later on,"

Another suspicious chuckle came from Dumbledore that caused Fred and George to start squirming guiltily in their chairs as they looked anywhere but the professor's eyes.

It took a while for Dumbledore's words to sink in, but after a few moments Molly was already up and about bustling away as she continued to prepare more food. Sirius seemed delighted at the chance not only to see his dear friend Remus again but also for the fact that his godson was finally going to be a part of an official meeting, something he felt should have been happening from the very start.

The Weasley children and Hermione all rose to their feet rather grudgingly as they stared enviously at Harry, only cheering up when he gave them all a nod of reassurance, silently promising to tell them of what was said later, before deftly leaving the room. It was only a few moments after their exit when the almost haunting bell rang, and consequently Mrs Black began to endlessly scream yet again. Sirius almost immediately stormed off to both welcome the visitors and to shut up his most hated mother.

The screams soon ended, allowing Harry to hear the happy greetings and gruff voices of the members who all seemed to have arrived with one another. _'How odd_', Harry thought. His suspicions only rising further when he noticed that even Snape, Professor McGonagall, Mad Eyed Moody – who he had yet to talk in depth with- and Kingsley had shown up. Something he knew from the past few weeks that only happened when the matters discussed were of a high importance.

_'__Huh'_ he thought to himself _'what are you planning Professor Dumbledore?'_. Panic suddenly gripped Harry as he remembered Dumbledore's promises to reveal all soon, something that Harry just knew related to his sister. But he wouldn't. Surely if Dumbledore knew of her existence than he would surely also know of their unbreakable bond and therefore his desperation to keep her away from situations such as these in order to keep her safe.

_'__Don't be stupid Harry, Dumbledore is not an idiot. He knows how dangerous your life is and how dangerous even your friendship can be. He wouldn't endanger her without good reason. And there doesn't seem to be any reason to supposedly reveal her other than to stop the others from worrying about my wellbeing. He's probably just kept you here to inform you on what's going to happen when you go to Hogwarts in September right?' _Harry nodded to himself, agreeing with his own logical reasoning as he breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked up at the table, noticing that everyone was finally seated with Sirius and Mrs Weasley being either side of him and Dumbledore most naturally at the head of the table with all eyes on him as he alone stood to address the order.

"Good morning all." He said quite cheerfully, further convincing Harry that this meeting would be one of a simply frivolous nature and was not something to worry about. Harry was soon proven wrong as the next few words left Dumbledore's mouth. "As you remember I promised a few nights ago to reveal to you the nature of what was distressing our dear Harry, however, I feel it would be most suitable if we heard the story from Harry's own mouth rather than an old coot's such as myself. So Harry would you mind telling the order of what has been worrying you so?"

Everyone turned to stare expectantly at Harry, even Moody managed to level his false magnified eye in order to meet his own nervous gaze. Harry cleared his throat before angrily replying to Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry sir, but I have no idea what you're talking about." Harry knew it was a terrible tactic, completely transparent in fact as all could clearly see that he was deflecting the questions. But he knew that without his own admittances Dumbledore would not tell his tale for him and so he decided that to remain quiet was his best bet at prolonging his sister's invisibleness.

Dumbledore didn't seem surprised at his answer, annoyingly it looked as if he expected such a rebuttal as he simply rose an eyebrow before smiling caringly at Harry. He suddenly whistled shrilly, startling everyone seated at the table, especially Harry who wondered why he would do such a thing. His unspoken question was soon answered as five owls – including Pig and Hedwig- flew in all carrying something, whether boxes or letters all seemingly addressed to him.

Harry inwardly cursed the professor, he knew something was going on this morning when he couldn't find an owl! What was Dumbledore up to?

It suddenly dawned on Harry just what the old professor had planned when he caught sight of the neat handwriting that he had been reading for years written on the parcels. All the owls flew towards his seat depositing their loads before continuing to fly back out their window to merlin knows where. Harry tried to resist, really he did, but it been days since he'd heard from her and he just missed her so much.

With one last look around at all the questioning (or accusing in Snape's case) gazes of the other members, Harry impulsively dived into the large pile opening a letter at random. He read fast knowing he would have to answer the many questions everyone surely had sooner rather than later but for now he simply wanted to feel the familiar comfort he got whenever she wrote to him. He didn't read the entirety of the letter but he understood the general gist.

She started the letter of with her common greeting of: 'To my favourite – and only- younger bro', something that never failed to put a large smile on his face even now, causing the intensity of the questioning glances to rise. Especially that of Sirius' who looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip the letter out of his hands but refrained from doing so out of respect for his godson.

She then went on to playfully admonish him on his inability to write back as she asks if he's 'finally realised that she was just much to cool for him.' Even going so far as to saying that she was 'too cool for school'. Something that made him both laugh out loud and shake his head at out of embarrassment. Something she seemed to share as she soon after wrote that she 'just couldn't pull that one off'. The letter continued on in much the same way, playful and jovial until the very end where Harry read something that made his stomach twist and his mouth drop open.

"Listen little lion" (her common nickname for him, well that and cub)

"I know that you've been hiding things from me and that's okay. No honestly it is! But Cub, you have to understand that my first priority, heck my first job as your older sister is to keep you safe and I can't do that if I'm miles away now can I? I wish I realised this earlier, but I need to be there with you Cub.

I need to be with the order fighting the bad guys and you need to be in the school safe and sound. Now before you start shaking your head and protesting like I know you will be" she was right, for that was exactly what he currently doing,

"just hang on okay? We'll talk about this soon, face to face I promise. Dumbledore managed to track me down and assured me that I could visit soon. I should be there around late afternoon on Wednesday okay? I'm sorry for not telling you sooner little lion, just try not to get angry, please for me? Keep an open mind until we can properly discuss this. And remember that I love you okay?

All my love and more

You're big Sis."

He tried. Honestly he tried so hard to mute his anger. Not anger directed at her mind you, for he could never be angry at his sister, but more his anger towards the situation and most importantly towards Dumbledore himself. How could the old professor do such a thing as contact his own sister, invite her into the arms of danger themselves and not even think about telling him: her brother? Better yet how could the old coot ever think it okay to cut off communication between the two siblings?

All these questions and more arose within his mind after Harry had desperately reread the letter: once, twice, three times, hoping against all logic that perhaps he had simply misread the letter. That in actual fact she just meant she was looking forward to seeing him next summer in the much safer location of Privet Drive where she would remain for the rest of year, oblivious to the oncoming war in the wizard world.

But alas, even with his magic Harry could not erase what he had just read, nor could he change it. He would simply have to accept it- regardless of the growing resentment he felt towards his own tarnished name that promised danger to every person who dared to utter it with fondness.

However Harry still could not help but to smile despite the confusion and fear that currently clouded his brain. A smile that grew ever larger, soon morphing into a grin of pure happiness as he ignored the continuously growing intensity of the worried stares of his family and co, directed towards his still rigid figure. They all were most surely wondering how the boy could be smiling with such genuine elatedness after being delivered such seemingly devastating news. And the answer in itself was simple:

His sister was on her way.


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I'm really sorry that I haven't updated this story in so long but school just completely got in the way. Anyway I have updated/ pretty drastically changed chapter 3 and am currently working on the next few chapters so that I can update more regularly. So enough of me, I hope you enjoy!**_

His happiness lasted for all of a singular minute before quickly depleting after hearing the rather violent throat clearing beside him. It seemed that he had ignored those he sat next to for too long as they had all given up on staring fruitlessly at him and instead had turned their curious eyes to the bearer of news himself: Dumbledore.

At seeing this movement the old professor chuckled rather wholeheartedly as he rose a single hand into the air in order to placate the now visible impatience of the members of the order. But she still failed to utter a word, instead he seemed determined for Harry to take over this meeting. This decision baffled him to such an extent that he momentarily forgot to continue to hide the letter to his chest.

And that was all it took.

For in that one second of preoccupation Harry's grip on his sister's message had loosened to such a minor extent that the top left hand corner of the yellowing parchment bent away slightly from where he had encompassed it to his own chest. Unfortunately for him, that left hand corner was all it took for Mrs Weasley to begin to raise herself into a tizzy. For after seeing the greeting entitled to a younger brother, Mrs Weasley became both visibly shocked and confused. Her motherly concern now heightened to such an extent that she threw away her normally polite demeanour and with a speed so fast that if you blinked you would miss it she snatched the parchment clean out of his hands.

All of the members stayed still in silence as this time they turned to look at the frozen Molly. Watching diligently as her eyes flitted back and forth, her eyebrows furrowing deeper down her forehead the more she read on. Harry remained still in disbelief as he watched the secret that he had so obsessively guarded become unravelled in front of him. He did not feel as bad as he always thought he would, rather he simply felt relief. It was not until the burden had been uplifted did he realise just how heavy of a burden it was.

But now the secret was out and he honestly couldn't think of a better reason for it to be.

Molly's eyes finally reached the bottom of the parchment as she opened her mouth in utter shock at the last few words. And as for the old coot? Well Harry very much doubted that the man could possibly look any happier as he sat there with his arms crossed, the picture of relaxed.

By this point Sirius had had enough of all of the tense stares and with a cry of "BUGGER THIS!" he lunged over the table with a surprising amount of grace. His hands were like a cobra as they snatched the letter clean out of Molly's trembling hands. However in true Sirius form he did not return to his seat, but stood up on the table and continued to read aloud.

"Listen little lion blah blah, cub, hiding, love, sister, little lion, again," This time Harry joined Dumbledore in his amusement as he sat back and watched Sirius trying to decipher the letter. He seemed to skip through what he deemed to be unimportant messages and instead seemed to be trying to find the hidden death threats directed to his beloved godson. When he came out unsuccessful he seemed to become aware of what he just skimmed through; managing to fixate on one supposedly overlookable word,

"Sister".

He repeated it again and again, either for the benefit of the other members or for his own sanity. But instead of the confusion that seemed to be so clear in everyone else's gobsmacked faces, Sirius and Remus' faces fell noticeably.

Remus took to coughing and looking away, trying futilely to hide his suspiciously glistening eyes. And Sirius remained frozen, muttering the word sister under his breath as if it was an enchantment in itself. He looked wildly around the room, looking more like the broken man that he truly was than he ever had before. His hands shook as his breath faltered. He looked to Harry in desperation, as if willing him to help to break him out of this state that he had fallen into. His pupils were unfocused, directed towards him but not actually SEEING him. It was as if that word, that trigger, had been a memory placed into the Pensieve that Sirius and Remus had seemingly dived into.

That memory was of course of the lively girl with fire red hair. The girl with so much love and kindness in her that she truly glowed. No-one was exempt from her compassion, with the exception of those who harmed the ones she loved. Merlin help those who crossed Lily Potter because she fought just as she loved: with a ferocity that withstood every obstacle.

Those who were lucky enough to even converse with such a being all stood in that very room, stricken with the grief of losing such a goodness to such an awful fate. And as for those who were lucky enough to stand beside her as they fought, for those fortunate enough to have her look upon them in adoration? Well one had joined her in her fate, another had betrayed her in unspeakable ways, but the final two sat there now. They stood together in remembrance of her love and care, shaken by the lack of her presence and wishing for nothing more than for her to storm through that very door. Her hair a mess and drool smeared of her chin in a way that only she could make adorable. They longed for her laughter, for her reassurance that they were doing the right thing, for her to be sitting here in her rightful place, beside her son and her family.

And perhaps most of all, they wished for her to call them her brothers once more so that they could see her eyes alight in such touching joy when they would in return call her their sister.

Dumbledore finally seemed to deem it right for him to interrupt as his voice boomed aloud with power.

"As you can see Harry is certainly in no danger. In fact I'd say that he will soon be safer than he has ever been before,"

This sentence seemed to break Sirius and Remus out of their grief stricken states as Remus cleared his throat once more and tweaked his moustache whilst thumbing the trails down his face away. Sirius did not manage to regain his composure so quickly however, and had to be nudged down by Remus who sat beside him in such closeness that their shoulders remained firmly together in solidarity. He gave only one small smile to Harry to try to reassure him, but other than that it was as if he couldn't bear to look at his godson's face.

At this moment no-one really paid attention to Dumbledore, but all took to staring in sympathy at the two Marauders. Molly's hands came to rest on Arthurs as she seemed to anchor herself to this reality. Tonks' hair grew white at the roots as she stared at Remus seeming to having to restrain herself from reaching out to him. McGonagall bowed her head in what seemed to be grief as she too experienced memories that did not seem to be welcome. And when Harry turned to look at Snape, he could see no difference in the potion master's stance but still there was something about his lack of a snarl that seemed to radiate sadness.

Harry's smile fell as he was now the one to look upon the others in confusion. What were they all thinking about? And why would none of them look at him? He thought that they would have endless amounts of probing questions lined up for him, but instead it seemed they were too busy indulging in this mournful atmosphere.

Dumbledore continued on regardless although his eyes were ever so slightly dullened as he tried to reignite their intrigue:

"This letter is not one constructed of evil, but one written with one of the purest forms of love. I am glad to say that we seem to have gained another ally, and a rather valuable one at that. She is a rather remarkable women but I must urge you to refrain from judging her on first impressions, for she does not tend to make a good one. The women in question will be arriving earlier tomorrow morning. Now I know I that this may be short notice," A snort came from the back of the room at this, "**_but_** I trust that everyone shall be at their best and will be wholly welcoming to Harry's sister. And I do deeply apologise for this but Molly I must ask you to please makeup another bed if that is at all possible."

This task seemed to break Mrs Weasley out of her abnormally withdrawn reverie as she took to refocusing on the issues at hand. The normal rosy colour arrived back into her cheeks as she looked re-assuredly at Bill and patted her husband's hand before looking determinedly at Dumbledore.

"Of course that is alright Albus, in fact if I remember rightly there should be a bedroom on the west wing that we only just cleared out. I'll place some fresh bed sheets in there for the young women."

But even when speaking Mrs Weasley still seemed to be distracted. Harry noticed this and when seeing that she wasn't the only one he cautiously stood to his feet. Dumbledore, seeing that the attention was now off of him, sat down once more and turned to Harry with encouragement.

All eyes were back on him, and with their curiosity finally apparent again, Harry nodded and took a deep breath.

"I know you have questions, a lot of questions. And I'm sorry that I have kept this from you all, but you have to understand that I never meant to hurt anyone! I thought that if I told you about her, I'd put her in danger or that if you found out about everything that I've told her you might try to erase her memories and I couldn't bear that, she means so much to me. For her to be taken away I-" Harry's speech sped up in pure panic as he looked around at the people he now considered a threat. It was wrong to see them as such, he knew that, but all of a sudden he remembered why he kept his sister's existence a secret in the first place.

For as he looked around into the faces he so trusted, he could only see the dangers that lay beyond them. Could only see the tightening of Sirius' hands into fists as he subconsciously readied himself to fight for his godson. Saw the sharpening of Remus' eyes as he prepared himself to fight for Harry as well – just in a way that was more intellectual than physical. And saw the way Mrs Weasley's hands came to lie upon her husband's hands clearly in a search for comfort as they both stared upon their son's best friends with slight fear in their eyes. All he could see where the potential dangers to his sister and however hard he tried he could do nothing to distinguish the protective instincts that rose inside him begging him to continue to protect her identity.

These people had laws in place that he had broken; regularly so. He never stopped to think why he hadn't been caught as of yet but he just chalked it up to the magical shields placed around Privet Drive and assumed they protected his privacy and so protected him from getting into any more trouble with the ministry. But he'd heard stories of the punishments, of how the muggles exposed to the magical world would literally be stripped of their memories. Hermione would often rant about the injustice of it all and argue that a person's memories were sacred and should not be taken away from them.

He never wanted that to happen to his sister, never wanted her to be unable to remember him because then what would he do? How would he go on? He was strong, everyone knew that, but without her that strength would merely have been born out of necessity not out of character. His legs wobbled as if they'd been hit with the jelly legs jinx and he had to grip onto the back of the chair to remain stable.

A hand suddenly fell onto his shoulder as he flinched away from it, shocked as he was quickly brought back to reality. The comforting hand belonged to no other than Professor McGonagall as she stood behind him with a kind look in her eyes.

"Calm down now Mr Potter, no-one here intends to bring any harm to this young woman I can promise you that."

And that was enough. That was all he needed to clear the fog that poisoned his mind. He knew that he was irrational when it came to her, but that's what you get after suffering through a life time of loss and neglect.

"Sorry. I - it's just that- she. Sorry." He stammered for an excuse, struggling to regain his past determination. But yet again Professor McGonagall succeeded in grounding him once more with a swift squeeze to the shoulder where her hand firmly remained. Harry took a deep breath before continuing,

"Her name's Rei, Rei Adams. I've known her my entire life, or what seems like that anyway. She is... incredible. She's kind and calm and strong, so strong, and she's always been there for me. As a friend, as a teacher as a... sister" He uttered this with hesitance as he looked around. But to his surprise nobody flinched or dissolved yet again into a morbid silence. Instead they had all seemed to have anchored themselves to one thing or another and had strengthened themselves so that they may be able to hear him out.

"She's not perfect, she gets very protective of me, like I do her, and she can have a temper that rivals a Hungarian Horntail, and she's annoyingly stubborn and so extremely clumsy that I'm scared for anyone who dares be in her general vicinity," Tonks seemed to perk up at this," But she's my sister and I love her dearly."

"She was the one who convinced me to go to Hogwarts, she was the one who taught me how to ride a bike and she was the one to offer me a family when I had none. I owe her so much and I know that there is never going to be a way for me to ever repay her for all that she has done, but I thought that by keeping her safe, at least for now, I could be protecting her. I never meant to keep her a secret not truly I just can't bear to have another person I love put into danger because of me."

Any doubts that were still held about Harry's having a sibling were quickly washed away with his speech as it was clear to see that he truly did care and love this girl. It showed in the way his eyes lit up just with the mention of this girl's name and the way his hands clenched into white knuckled fists with just the mere thought of her being in danger. Yes, Harry Potter really did have a sister. But for now that wasn't the biggest revelation- at least not in Sirius' eyes as he finally broke free of what he considered to be his selfish mourning.

"Harry **_you_** are not putting anyone into danger. **_You_** are not forcing anyone to be here, nor are **_you _**forcing anyone to fight. This war isn't **_your_** responsibility to claim Harry, if anything **_you_** are undoubtedly the reason many of us are still breathing today!"

Sirius' eyes bore into his godson's own as he lowered his head in order to meet the still painfully familiar emerald iris' drowning in guilt and worry. It killed Sirius to see the boy he still thought of as a child to be hurting so much. To be silently dealing with pain that he did not deserve in any way at all.

It was when he saw Harry in this form that he missed James and Lily the most. Missed the way Lily used to be able to calm the screaming boy's cries with a singular motherly touch or the way in which James managed to make the little boy he so adored gurgle with unbridled laughter just by pulling that stupid face he had so mastered. For such young parents, the couple had been flawless in raising their son. There never seemed to be a moment in which little Harry was left neglected or sad, nor was there ever a moment when he was ever left unsure of just how much the people around him loved him. And yet after his best friends untimely and cruel demise Harry had had to have gone through a torturous 11 years without even the hint of human affection. He had to suffer like Sirius had in Azkaban- without safety, without warmth, without love. He still worried about the hidden effects that must've had on Harry, the inevitable scars that must've left him with.

For if that own godforsaken jail had such an effect on him and he was a fully grown man, what kind of hellish effect could such an existence have on a child so much younger than him? He dreaded to think.

And yet this revelation worked to soothe the deeply ingrained worries as Sirius came to the realisation that perhaps Harry wasn't so without love after all. Sirius had never felt such a gratitude to a person he had no knowledge of before in his life, but at that moment he couldn't thank this Rei enough for seemingly providing his little godson with enough love to make him into the amazing person he sat before today. She had seemed to heal the scars, to have replaced traumatic memories with only good ones. And he just knew that when he met this girl – if he ever had the honour- that girl was going to get one hell of a hug out of him.

"But Sirius, I."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Now was not the time to try to make him feel better. He knew he was the reason behind many of the dangers aimed towards these people, and he accepted that although rather reluctantly. What he couldn't accept, however, was the denial laced into Sirius' tone.

Why could no-one ever just tell him that it is in fact his own fault that this war is being to spark back up into the dangerous fire once more and simply move on from there? Was it so hard as to merely admit that fact? For after all in Harry's mind it was just that: a fact.

"But nothing Harry. Sirius is right, we are all here because we intend to willingly fight for our world. None of the fault of our injuries, losses and even the war itself in any way comes back to you Harry." Remus' tone rang with a defining finality as in a rare occurrence, he took charge of the conversation leading it back to its original intentions. "Now was that all Albus, or was there anything else to be discussed here?"

"That was all Remus. Now I thank you all once more for your ever present patience and again compliments to you Molly for the delicious food, I am pleased to say I shall leave here with a fully satisfied stomach. I will be personally escorting Miss Rei to the premises tomorrow so you may expect us by midday. For now I must prepare for the trip so I shall bid you all a goodnight and plead you to not bombard Mister Potter with questions that I -alongside Miss Rei- will be sure to answer tomorrow. Thank you again everybody and goodnight."

Dumbledore's exit was rather prompt and hurried and so for that reason Harry was unable to catch him on the way out to ask him what in the hell he was thinking when he initiated all of this. But alas Harry failed to even grasp onto his billowing robes and so was forced to remain in the room where all eyes were still firmly on him, although the atmosphere was much more peaceful now. He knew that he would need to make an exit soon, purely for his own sanity.

But just as Harry was readying himself for his escape, he realised that he had neglected to mention one tiny, slightly insignificant fact about her.

"Oh and Rei may or may not be a... muggle?"

The peace and quiet didn't exactly last long after that.

Questions and shouts describing the unlawfulness of his actions rang out amidst doubts about his sanity and intelligence. Sirius instead took to shouting at the others for daring to shout at his grandson. And Remus was shouting at Sirius to make him stop shouting at the others for shouting at Harry. And Mrs Weasley was shouting at everyone so that they would lower their voices.

And well Tonks was just shouting because she liked to.

In the midst of all this chaos Harry seized his opportunity and so with a muttered goodnight he hurriedly collected the still unopened packages littering the table and rushed out of the room. Sirius seemed to become silent for a moment as he saw him leave but resigned himself to merely watching his godson's escape, assuring himself that he would definitely talk to Harry tomorrow- of that he had no doubt. But as of right now he was too busy telling Snivellus what for.

Harry managed to slip past every person around the table and even managed to avoid the bombardment of questions thrown at him by the eavesdroppers laying on the landing on the floor above, all of them huddled around the singular extendable ear.

They all seemed to be in a similar state of shock as the residents in the room below them, except they chose to show it in silence instead of a shouting match. With the exception of Ron and Hermione who both seemed to be staring at him in a mixture of betrayal and an insistence for him to tell them everything.

Harry couldn't face this look for long, feeling drained enough from the forceful extraction of truth he underwent just moments ago, and so he merely averted his stare and continued his hurried ascent to his bedroom upstairs. He didn't even bother changing out of his clothes as he exhaustedly shoved the letters and packages underneath the rather dusty bed and collapsed on top of the covers. Turning determinedly away from the doorway to avoid any potential questions Ron may pose to him later on, Harry forcefully shut his eyes willing himself to sleep as he finally allowed himself to revel in the excitement he felt for his sister's arrival.


	5. Chapter 4

The sun had yet to be risen and yet the moon was quickly disappearing. This odd limbo of time, the time between the peaceful night and a volatile day, was as small as a millisecond. The residents of Grimmauld Place slept soundly, unbeknownst to the oncoming events. They would come to awareness soon however as they were abruptly awoken during this millisecond limbo by a resounding crash from the sitting rooms some stories below.

The following responses were rapid and so hurried that Harry struggled to keep track of them. For only a few seconds had passed before threats were being hurtled about in the room downstairs. It seemed like the residents who were able to apparate had done so all too readily at the sign of an intruder. Harry had tried to be quick, honestly he had, but without his glasses his body might as well have been under the Jelly legs Jinx. He could barely make out the red blur that was Ron Weasley as he groggily awoke, in no clear hurry of leaving his dream world.

The door to their shared room had been opened in all the chaos and a pale hand now extended directly in front of his face. The blush that appeared on his cheeks was so violent that it could rival the flames of a Hungarian Horntail after Harry saw the owner of the said hand. Ginny Weasley stood before him in all her glory, hair bedraggled from sleep and body covered in an unflattering night gown. And yet still she managed to look menacing as her body tensed in lieu of this supposed intruder.

After accepting the help despite his initial embarrassment Harry was finally able to right himself as he found - or was rather handed- his glasses. With his sight intact he could now clearly make out the situation at hand. A large group of people stood in front of him, all seeming to stare protectively at him. The twins were located near the doorway, seeming stuck between protecting their siblings and facing the threat at hand. Ron was still attached to his bed as Hermione attempted to pull him up trying desperately to be at both of her boys' side, no matter how impossible the task may be. Sirius was in his animagus form at the end of his bed, his hackles up as he seemed to stand guard of his godson. And Harry simply stood there, wand in hand as he looked for the nearest escape.

It did not occur to him in the moment that his sister, a women renowned for being late, could ever have arrived so early.

Instead Harry believed what everyone else in the room seemed to believe.

They were under attack.

His mind slowed, his heartbeat increased. He quickly ran through every defensive and offensive spells that he knew.

For he refused to let his family die for him: not again.

Before anyone could stop him, Harry had sprinted out of the door and flew down the stairs. His entourage followed in a stream of pleas and cries to slow down, admist the worried barks and howls of his godfather. His mind was already made up ,however, this intruder would pay for putting his family at risk.

It wasn't till he broke down the door, till he saw a glimpse of chestnut red among the slytherin green, did he come to see sense.

And what he saw horrified him.

The sitting room was large and what one could call grand, whilst others - especially Sirius- would call it pompous. The fireplace stood at the centre, covered not in family pictures like the Weasleys but decorated in house crests and slytherin snakes. The walls were a murky green that could not be repainted, nor could they be cleaned of the colours. The only windows within the room were dimly lit, artificial as they offered a distorted view of muggle London. In fact the only comforting aspects of the room were the sofas, a bright gold and red that had been specifically transfigured by Sirius with many a cushioning charm being cast upon them to make them deliciously comfortable.

The lights were at full brightness, contrasting to the lack of light outside where it was still a peaceful night. Before Harry's entourage appeared the only residents in the room were Tonks, Mr and Mrs Weasley and Dumbledore himself. All of whom were crowded around a hidden figure in different stances and expressions.

Tonks stood with a worried look on her face, her hair a serious brunette. Mr Weasley looking to Dumbledore in concern. Mrs Weasley shakily held her hand over her mouth whilst her other gripped her wand, seeming stuck between hostility and worry. And Dumbledore was knelt down next to the mysterious figure, whispering what were no doubt words of wisdom to the fallen person.

"Professor, what is going on?"

Harry's words were surprisingly calm, despite the growing terror in his chest. He knew something was wrong as soon as their eyes turned to him, all in guilt. As the others crashed into the room, Sirius transforming once passed the doorway, Harry was already halfway to the figure. Hands outstretched along with accompanying wands to stop him, but his feet refused to. As he reached the group he gently moved Mrs Weasley aside to see the figure more clearly.

And there she was.

Frozen in stature.

His first thought was that she had been petrified. For she looked so alike to Hermione's own previous state in that second that he could only diagnose her as such. But then common sense came to him. The only Basilisk that existed in these regions was dead, had been so for well over a year now, so it couldn't have been that. But then what could it be?

Now Harry prided himself on controlling his anger. He was not an inherently violent or volatile person. He had managed himself around the abusive Dursely's, had stifled the urge to fight Malfloy on more than one occasion and had stopped himself from snapping at Ron, no matter how tempting such a reaction may be.

But it would seem that tonight's events were enough to break his temperament.

He turned to Tonks in a silent range, motioning to her with one hand as he stiffly ordered her to reverse the Petrificus Totalus that had been placed upon his sister. And then he turned to Mrs Weasley, narrowing his eyes as he watched her grip loosen on her wand. And it was not until she had let go of it entirely did he lessen his glare.

When he heard Tonks mutter "Finite Incantatem" he turned to face the others within the room who were all stood there shocked at the silent rage the ordinarily so calm boy was emitting.

"Get away"

The words were spoken in a whisper, yet they seemed like a shout in the silent room. The warning behind the tone was clear as Harry squared his body to cover the view of his quickly awakening sister.

Dumbledore looked upon Harry with something similar to concern in his still twinkling eyes as he patted his tense shoulder before nodding his head to the gathered crowd. They seemed to follow his instructions as they left the room- some more easily than others. Sirius began to voice his displeasure at being abandoning his godson with a clear intruder, but when seeing the seriousness of Harry's demeanor he gave only a meaningful glance to the boy before following in the retreat.

The only ones now left in the room were Mr and Mrs Weasley, Harry and his sister. At seeing her legs begin to move, Harry quickly turned to the only mother figure he had in his life.

"You need to leave"

" Harry I will not leave you with-"

"Mrs Weasley I am not asking you, I'm telling you. She will not be happy with you when she wakes up and I don't want to see you hurt. I am perfectly safe here but you are not... please"

The plea seemed to work as Arthur took his wife by the shoulders and guided her away, nodding to the boy in apology as he glanced towards the girl in both guilt and hostility as he registered the threat she posed to Molly.

When the door had firmly shut behind them, Harry's defensive pose finally dropped. His shoulders stooping in relief as he quickly turned to kneel beside his sister who was now upright and looking upon him with love and adoration so strong he could not maintain eye contact.

"Harry."

Her words were choked, lost behind overwhelming emotion.

But they were enough.

Enough to break down Harry's last remaining walls as he forcibly shoved his way into her opened arms, burying his head into her shoulder as he sobbed with a happiness he had rarely felt outside of her presence.

"Rei - I - What - "

"Shush now cub, I'll explain soon. But there's something more important that I need to discuss with you right now,"

Her strict tone caused his head to jolt from its comforting position at her side as he worryingly fretted over her, checking her body for any sign of injury or pain. Her small hands cupped his face, guiding his eye line to her as she smiled calmly at him, easing his worries with a mere flash of her dimpled cheeks.

"Who is that pretty red head and why did you never mention her to me?"

The question was so positively her, so jokingly offended in tone and lighthearted in message that he began to laugh. A great, infectious laugh that the residents of the house could hear from the other room.

Harry's laugh continued as he pulled her into another hug, desperate to continue feeling this overwhelming and addicting joy. Just hearing her accompanying laugh that was more gasps and wheezes due to his tight hold, was more than enough to assuage his last doubts and worries over her presence. She was safe, she was here, and she was in his arms.

He was home at last.


End file.
